Live pause issues

whippet

After a nightmare with installations, I had the Sky+ box replaced yesterday. I wasn't there when it happened my dad had to wait at the house.

When I got home I discovered that Live Pause wouldn't work (it would crash after a few seconds) and later I discovered that when I went to Skysports or any of the movie channels a message would come up saying 'you do not have the correct viewing card for this set top box'

I was on to Sky Tech support (about the live pause issuse as I wasn't aware of the other issue at the time), they got me to do a system reset which didn't solve the problem and then said they would have to book an engineer visit.

Has anyone any idea if this can be resolved with out an onsite visit as I have no intention of waiting on an engineer on xmas eve that may or may not show up !!

Mossy Monk

everyone has that live pause issue. an engineer imo is pointless. the wrong viewing card problem can be solved over the phone though

whippet

with the old box before it died totally .. there was an intermittant problem with live pause but this box just won't do it.

to be honest I am not paying for a service that I can't recieve. I did mention to the girl on the phone that I saw references to the live pause issues on the web and she said that there was a problem a few months ago and the updated software was pushed out to resolve it. I then suggested that the new box was in stoarge and wasn't updated, to which she replied that if I updated the software it wouldn't make a difference !! confusing !!

Mossy Monk

whippet wrote:

she said that there was a problem a few months ago and the updated software was pushed out to resolve it

she fobbed you off. i have a Sky+ box in Waterford and a Sky+ box in Dungarvan. both are always on and both still suffer from the same problem. they still wont acknowledge to me that it was them that ****ed up

slegs

whippet wrote:

with the old box before it died totally .. there was an intermittant problem with live pause but this box just won't do it.

to be honest I am not paying for a service that I can't recieve. I did mention to the girl on the phone that I saw references to the live pause issues on the web and she said that there was a problem a few months ago and the updated software was pushed out to resolve it. I then suggested that the new box was in stoarge and wasn't updated, to which she replied that if I updated the software it wouldn't make a difference !! confusing !!

i know its little consolation but live pause is not something you would do very often (nor is instant rewind for that matter)

most people will start recording a live program if they like it and watch from the planner to achieve the same results

instant rewind in particular would be very hard wearing on the hard drive

Mossy Monk

slegs wrote:

i know its little consolation but live pause is not something you would do very often (nor is instant rewind for that matter)

do you speak for everyone? live pause was used quite often

Bards

Exactly Mossy, I use pause and instant rewind the whole time..especially for footie

wish $ky would fix the problem sooner rather than later

slegs

Mossy Monk wrote:

do you speak for everyone? live pause was used quite often

its called an opinion lads..ye give plenty of em here yourselves

Mossy Monk

slegs wrote:

i know its little consolation but live pause is not something you would do very often (nor is instant rewind for that matter)

looks like a statement to me rather than an opinion tbh

daymobrew

I get the intermittent Live Pause issue too. Sky knows about it but don't seem to have pushed a software update out to fix it yet.

I fix it by powering the box off for a minute. It then works for a good few days.

whippet

daymobrew wrote:

I get the intermittent Live Pause issue too. Sky knows about it but don't seem to have pushed a software update out to fix it yet.

I fix it by powering the box off for a minute. It then works for a good few days.

that worked with the old box .. but the new one just won't pause at all.

As for the live pause and instant rewind .. that is why I got sky+. I use it all the time, pause when I get a phone call, someone calls to the door, nip out to make a cup of tea, get the dinner started etc ..

slegs

Mossy Monk wrote:

looks like a statement to me rather than an opinion tbh

grand so...will keep my opinions for bulletin boards that encourage contributions from people other than the 4 moderators

Mossy Monk

you do that then

DMC

I use live pause and rewind quite often, and I'm not a mod here. Its a real pain that this still hsa not been fixed.

Campaign, anyone?

whippet

another lad on the tech side said he can push down a software update that will clear both problems .. but I won't hold my breath till I get home!!

ixtlan

Hi all,

Actually I agree with Slegs...

I don't use live pause, but I can see people might like it.

However my opinion is that instant rewind is a bad idea. It keeps the disk in constant use, which cheap IDE disks are not designed for. And I know the disk spins regardless, but that is not the same thing as having the heads move.

Can't we all just... get along?:D

Ix.

Sir Oxman

I have just experienced this live pause problem this morning - cannot ff or rw, picture freezes after a second or two, also wrong program description for recorded programs, also after coming out of live pause no picture only sound (blue background), search and scan works but no picture.


I have powercycled - no use

I have done a planner rebuild - no use

I have done full reset - no use


Box is on almost 24/7 and has never felt overheated (there are no obstructions)


I have been reading on DS a way to test whether its the hard disk is corrupt:

Quote/

It could well be that the boot up sector of the hard drive is corrupted.
Here is what PACE say:
1. Disconnect from mains.
2. Press left and right arrow keys on front of receiver (on right of box).
3. Reconnect mains while holding down arrow keys.
4. Keep pressed until green circle leds light.
5. Release left/right buttons.
6. Press select.
7. The green circle led's rotate anticlockwise approx 20 times.
8. Green led go out.
9. If the green play led lights then HHD format is good
10. If red lights the format is not good and hard drive is faulty.


/Unqoute


Has anyone tried this?

Thanks.

Charles Slane

To be honest that sounds like it may be more than just the usual software issue. If disconnecting form the power supply doesn't temporarily solve it, the problem may run deeper.

I've had the live pause problem since the last software download too. I've had to disconnect from the power supply about ten times. That's sorts it out for while on my box.

Live pause is really handy when there's a phone call or a knock at the door. Usually you can catch up with the live programme by speeding through the ads. It's one of those features that, when you get used to it, becomes second nature.

The latest software download is supposed to be due in the next few weeks. Apparently it will feature things like 50 favourites (with it's own mini-EPG), four-digit radio numbers, and new uses for the colour buttons. Hopefully they'll put a fix in for the Sky+ live pause issue while they're at it.

Sir Oxman

Charles Slane wrote:

To be honest that sounds like it may be more than just the usual software issue. If disconnecting form the power supply doesn't temporarily solve it, the problem may run deeper.

Oh God, I hope not. I haven't tried the formatting instructions yet but did another reset and so far live pause ff and rw is working. Fingers crossed (tho I lost all me recordings) :mad:

JohnC.

It's astonishing that Live Pause and Instant Rewind still don't work. How many months has that been now? A good few anyway. Yet despite it being a non-feature for so long, it is still in their advertising as two of the main points of Sky+. If the service doesn't actually work, surely they can be done for, dare I say it, false advertising?

carm

delah wrote:

I have been reading on DS a way to test whether its the hard disk is corrupt:
Quote/
It could well be that the boot up sector of the hard drive is corrupted.
Here is what PACE say:
1. Disconnect from mains.
2. Press left and right arrow keys on front of receiver (on right of box).
3. Reconnect mains while holding down arrow keys.
4. Keep pressed until green circle leds light.
5. Release left/right buttons.
6. Press select.
7. The green circle led's rotate anticlockwise approx 20 times.
8. Green led go out.
9. If the green play led lights then HHD format is good
10. If red lights the format is not good and hard drive is faulty.
/Unqoute
Has anyone tried this?

I actually originally posted the above on the DS forum (funnily enough I found it somewhere from a link on this forum!). Apart from the live pause issue, I was having problems with playback on my PACE V2 Sky+ Box and at the end of three weeks of - planner rebuild, system reset and s/w downloading, on Christmas Eve our Sky+ box packed in.

I tried the above less than a week later and it has been working (bar the Live Pause issue which is Sky's admitted error) ever since without having to do anything else. It is definitely worth a try.

Having said that, I have bought a bigger new hard drive just in case. The new software update is due mid-January so time will tell...

HTH,

Carm

Gwynston

ixtlan wrote:

my opinion is that instant rewind is a bad idea. It keeps the disk in constant use, which cheap IDE disks are not designed for. And I know the disk spins regardless, but that is not the same thing as having the heads move.

Hmmm, I've been thinking about this too. Our box is left on 24/7, so I guess it's constantly recording the currently-tuned programme?

I suppose it's a good idea to switch to off to Standby when not viewing, so as to deactivate the live recording and constant disk writing?

My wife is addicted to live pause and rewinds during almost any programme if she happens to miss something just said.

grumpytrousers

ixtlan wrote:

Hi all,

Actually I agree with Slegs...

I don't use live pause, but I can see people might like it.

However my opinion is that instant rewind is a bad idea. It keeps the disk in constant use, which cheap IDE disks are not designed for. And I know the disk spins regardless, but that is not the same thing as having the heads move.

Can't we all just... get along?:D

Ix.

Indeed you may well think that instand rewind is a bad idea 'cos it constantly has the disc spinning, but I think I speak for a lot of folks of this parish when I say that whether it's a bad idea or not is largely beside the point. The 'point' is actually whether it works. And if the vendor claims as a selling point a piece of functionality that causes undue wear and tear on a device then they should either be held to account for it, or stop using it as a selling point. It's that simple.

You have here a company that spends gazillions pushing the idea of live pause, instant rewind as being now within the reach of every Sky viewer and then what do they go and do? That's right - the big watery tarts go and 'upgrade' the software so that you are NO LONGER GUARANTEED that your live pause will work.

And boy is it infuriating...y'see, if the blasted thing just didn't work - if it ignored my pressing of the button, i'd not care, i'd just make a value judgement on whether to answer the phone, put on the dinner etc, boil the kettle...:D As things stand, i know that i have to go thru the rigmarole of rebooting it...

There was an interesting article about this in Private Eye just before Christmas...saying that while sky won't say there's anything wrong, they noted that certain adverts...like ones with football matches being paused had - mysteriously - disappeared...

Mossy Monk

Sky are fobbing me off big time telling me that they have just started working on a fix that they hope will solve this problem. regarding the useless upgrade they sent out they seem to be going along the line of tough ****. forget that i paid €300 each for 2 boxes, both of which are now useless for what Sky advertise. i am seriouslly considering making the call and cancelling because i am sick of being treated like a moron by Sky. the FTV card will do me fine for a couple of months

grumpytrousers

Mossy Monk wrote:

Sky are fobbing me off big time telling me that they have just started working on a fix that they hope will solve this problem. regarding the useless upgrade they sent out they seem to be going along the line of tough ****. forget that i paid €300 each for 2 boxes, both of which are now useless for what Sky advertise. i am seriouslly considering making the call and cancelling because i am sick of being treated like a moron by Sky. the FTV card will do me fine for a couple of months

I think somebody else who knocks around these parts wrote an infuriated letter to sky and got a few quid knocked off the cost of his/her monthly costs. It's not much. It doesn't fix the problem. It's not even an acknowledgement...erm...can't remember much more, but think the chap himself prolly has more details on his original post....he has an avatar that contains a union jack...Meself, I'm gonna write a strongly worded letter and send it to their offices in Scotland. I'm sick of ringing, and sick of being put on hold...and i'll fookin' well say that as well....

*cracks knuckles*

watty

The disk is always spinning if the Sky+ is plugged in.

The only disk activity that varies is the head movement. Usually the drive motor fails first on PCs or servers that are always on.

It is a myth that drives are sealed. They have air inside an the head floats on a cushion of air (The Bernouli effect), equivalent to Concorde hedge hopping.

So what causes a "head crash"?

Well sudden shock while the box is on, or even a sudden movement in wrong direction can make the head bounce through the air cushion and hit the disk surface, with similar results to head and surface as Concorde missing a hedge hop at 600mph.

When the power is off (only if Sky+ unplugged, standby has no effect), a spring & lock mechanism clamps the head in place away from the normal surface.

Typically depending on size there are 1 to 4 disks with as many heads as surfaces or 1 less or 2 less heads. Never mind the CMOS settings, those are imaginary to keep the PC SW happy. A very tiny mobile disk might have one head and the absolute biggest capacity 3.5" disk maybe 8 heads.

If you smoke a lot and the air is very warm it is possible for vaporised tobacco tar to pass the very fine dust filter on the hard drive that lets the inside and outside air pressure equalise. If even one drop about 1/10th the size of an eye of needle condenses on the disk surface you may have a "head crash".


Conclusion:
Not smoking may lengthen your disk life, but it is likely that "Live pause" "instand rewind" has no effect either way.

Sir Oxman

Not smoking may lengthen your disk life, but it is likely that "Live pause" "instand rewind" has no effect either way.

Woah, that's me fcked then!

Just a sidenote, my epg software is 1.30.q and os software 1.31AOE which was pushed down months ago.
I've had no problems until 2 days ago so would that point to hard disk problems or a dormant software fckup?

It's working nicely at the moment but I get the wobbles everytime I hit pause or ff/rw...:eek:

Sir Oxman

carm wrote:

I actually originally posted the above on the DS forum (funnily enough I found it somewhere from a link on this forum!). Apart from the live pause issue, I was having problems with playback on my PACE V2 Sky+ Box and at the end of three weeks of - planner rebuild, system reset and s/w downloading, on Christmas Eve our Sky+ box packed in.

I tried the above less than a week later and it has been working (bar the Live Pause issue which is Sky's admitted error) ever since without having to do anything else. It is definitely worth a try.

Having said that, I have bought a bigger new hard drive just in case. The new software update is due mid-January so time will tell...

HTH,

Carm

Can I ask if this method is non-destructive in that it won't make the hdd into mush if I try it? I'd like to know have the sense that the hdd is fully cleaned/formatted if poss?#

Thanks

beer enigma

grumpytrousers wrote:

I think somebody else who knocks around these parts wrote an infuriated letter to sky and got a few quid knocked off the cost of his/her monthly costs. It's not much. It doesn't fix the problem. It's not even an acknowledgement...erm...can't remember much more, but think the chap himself prolly has more details on his original post....he has an avatar that contains a union jack...Meself, I'm gonna write a strongly worded letter and send it to their offices in Scotland. I'm sick of ringing, and sick of being put on hold...and i'll fookin' well say that as well....

*cracks knuckles*

Lol...If my wife thought I was 'knocking around' anywhere, she's have something to say about it I'm sure....you know what these Cork women are like

Anyhoo...yes I got a few months at 50% discount (I have the full package). Inidentally, as that reduction has now expired, I've banged off another email, having had advice from a buddy in the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK (ASA)...I knwo they don't cover Ireland, but this is a universal problem as far as I can see.....

I'll keep you posted on any response.

"Is there any update on this issue please ?, not only is it extremely annoying, but also last night caused me to miss a news item with my daughter on !! - something that I cannot easily replace.

Having lost one Sky box through a power outage, I am extremely concerned that this constant recycling of power will kill my Sky+ box. I am getting reasonably close the the end of the warranty.

Sky+ is advertised/sold as a product with live pause/rewind features etc. that do not reliably work and as such is "not fit for the purpose(s) for which it was sold" - I am getting to the stage where I am seriously considering a complaint to the advertising complaints authority, along with many other Sky users in Ireland.

I await your urgent response"

carm

delah wrote:

Can I ask if this method is non-destructive in that it won't make the hdd into mush if I try it? I'd like to know have the sense that the hdd is fully cleaned/formatted if poss?#

Thanks

It 'shouldn't' do anything detrimental but it's at your own risk, just make sure you stick to what it tells you.

It fixed my drive enough to use the record/remind feature which had stopped working. I was getting a 'technical error, phone Sky...' box up every time I wanted to record. But it is up to you.

I haven't even taken my new recon 160GB hard drive out of the box yet because I am waiting for the new software update to see what (messing) Sky will do next. I'm of the attitude right now 'if it's not broke...'

Good luck.

Sir Oxman

carm wrote:

It 'shouldn't' do anything detrimental but it's at your own risk, just make sure you stick to what it tells you.

It fixed my drive enough to use the record/remind feature which had stopped working. I was getting a 'technical error, phone Sky...' box up every time I wanted to record. But it is up to you.

I haven't even taken my new recon 160GB hard drive out of the box yet because I am waiting for the new software update to see what (messing) Sky will do next. I'm of the attitude right now 'if it's not broke...'

Good luck.

Thanks Carm, I won't bother doing that just now cos I don't get that message at all. As you say, if it's not broke...

cheers